Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes

By now, you’ve most likely noticed the recent pervasiveness of bacon in grocery stores, in restaurants, and especially on Pinterest… Bacon chocolate bars, bacon vodka, bacon cinnamon rolls, bacon toothpaste?? Scarily enough, all of these items are very much real entities.

And bacon cupcakes: rich chocolate cupcakes with a smokey flavor sure to please any bacon lover in your life.

While a bacon cupcakes recipe might seem out of place on this blog, I wanted to offer a healthier alternative for those interested in trying out the bacon trend without the extra calories and saturated fat… or for those who love Charlotte’s Web and Babe as much as I do! The thing is, you don’t actually need any real bacon to achieve that textbook “bacon” flavor; all you need is a secret ingredient found at pretty much any mainstream grocery store: liquid smoke.

I made a glaze for the cupcakes by taking my Reeses Fudge Frosting and thinning it out with a little extra almond milk. Then I sprinkled a few bacon bits on top (Frontier Bac’uns, Betty Crocker, and McCormick bacon bits all happen to be bacon-free) and they were good to go!

Preheat your oven to 350 F. Place 12 liners inside a muffin pan. In a large bowl, combine the first five ingredients and sift very well. In a separate bowl, combine remaining four ingredients and whisk until the mayo spread is completely smooth. Pour wet into dry, and stir until just combined. Immediately divide among the liners—it won’t seem like a lot of filling, but these cupcakes rise a lot! Bake 21 minutes, remove from the oven, then let sit 15 more minutes before removing from the pan. These taste much more fudgey and rich the next day, so bake the day before eating if you can. Store in the refrigerator for optimum freshness. (The recipe for the healthy chocolate frosting shown in the photos is linked under the second picture in this post.)

I can vouch for the recipe working with homemade cashew mayo, Vegenaise (low-fat or regular), or Earth Balance Mindful Mayo. Although I can’t vouch for every single homemade mayo spread out there, the recipe should work as long as your mayo spread includes vinegar or lemon juice and a fat source such as oil or cashews. If you are using a homemade mayo, I recommend omitting any onion powder and mustard called for in your recipe.

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Comments

Yum! I love chocolate and I love bacon! I’m not vegan or vegetarian, so I think I will be using actual bacon in these. I haven’t tried the bacon chocolate combination, but it’s been on my to-do list for sometime now. Maybe today’s the day! ;D

Have you tried Phoney Baloney bacon… It’s made from coconut and the best I’ve ever tried. I put it on everything. It’s online or a bunch of health food markets. I tried on vanilla cupcakes before… Now will try on these….. Yum

The owner had a vegan shop here used to sell sandwiches with it… he closed it to concentrate on this… If you have a chance to try it…you’ll be hooked. I think Isa has a cupcake recipe using it…. btw I voted for you on the veg awards… =)

I actually make my OWN coconut bacon! It is easy and oh, so yummy!! Coconut flakes are spread on to a baking sheet and drizzled with a liquid smoke, tamari, water and maple syrup blend! Bake until golden. A perfect salad or sandwich, or CUPCAKE, topping!!!

Hey Katie! First off, I love the blog; great recipes. Second, I have a question: I’m considering starting a food blog of my own, and I’m curious – how did you get readership? Did it happen naturally?? Thank you!

Trans fat is really the only REALLY bad fat (I know I said about unhealthy fat before, but I meant shear quantity compared to the protein content). Fat helps keep us full longer, and we do need about half a gram of fat per pound of body weight to function. However, most people get that easily. I’d rather get it from higher protein sources. Bacon is something I have to work in.

Oh I’m sorry I definitely do not mean to be henious or dangerous to the public. I truly believe this. I eat grass fed butter every morning and feel it has not hurt me one bit. I would love to hear why you feel my views are dangerous to the general public. The last thing I would want to do is hurt anyone. I just think real grass fed bacon is so much better for us than bacon bits with the chemicals.

Hiya,
It’s just strange that you say grass fed bacon. It’s an animal. A sweet, smart, heart beating, feeling being. I think you should visit an animal sanctuary and see for yourself. Don’t hate, just saying…and I don’t hate…just sounds weird to me. Like you are referring to a machine…peace out!

Lou–I like how anything that you don’t personally agree with is “horsesh*t”. And “dangerous to the public?” Give me a break. There are worse things in life than thinking that eating an occasional slice of bacon is okay. Not everyone agrees with you; get used to it.

um, you’re on a vegan blog. most people aren’t vegan. of course most people don’t agree with lou – most people are fine with animal cruelty and murder. if you want to eat salted pig strips, do it, but don’t get mad when you come to a vegan blog and talk about murder and the vegans don’t like it.

The Fronteir brand bacon bits are organic and chemical free; however, you definitely don’t need ANY bacon bits to make the recipe. They were just for garnish in the photos… not needed at all if someone doesn’t want to add them :).

Agreed that natural is better than fake/created. Not to be a Debbie Downer, but I’d think twice about using items that are made in a factory rather than outdoors. In the interest of healthy – and I understand and like the purpose of your work Katie – I think it’s important to not go too far. McCormick Bacon Flavored Bits contain: Textured Soy Flour, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Salt, Cornstarch, Natural Flavor and Artificial Flavors, Caramel Color, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Corn Gluten and Wheat Protein, FD&C Red 3 and Autolyzed Yeast.
Source: http://www.labelwatch.com/prod_results.php?pid=401504

I’m sorry but I have a huge problem with you saying “guilt”. No one should ever feel guilty because of something they have EATEN. I’m not sure you meant it in those terms but considering how rigid, strict, and skinny you are I don’t take it lightly and am offended. Thos words can be very triggering to certain people and I hope you choose more carefully next time

katie,
please stand up for yourself in response to such outrageous comments. please do not “apologize” for doing NOTHING wrong. “N” is not “100% correct” he/she is 0% correct. this person has made offensive comments about your slim appearance, and healthy lifestyle choices. additionally, the phrase “guilt-free” is commonly used EVERYWHERE. If you take offense to such a commonly used phrase… lose weight, or grow up.

but katie – PLEASE do not question yourself, and do not cater to the demands of such hostile, and easily offended humans.

Hi Lou,
I agree the comments about my appearance were not necessary, but I do think N was right about my word choice not being the best one. Although I hadn’t actually said people should feel guilty for eating something with an unhealthy amount of fat, that is sort of what my words were implying. I was happy to change them in this case.

If you’re offended because no one should feel guilty- Okay. If you’re offended in part because she is skinny and used the word ‘guilt’ maybe you need to look in the mirror, because that’s pretty offensive.

I have never really understood the bacon and chocolate obsession going around – but I feel like I need to try it after seeing these! You can’t hate till you try it right!? Maybe it will be my new favorite thing! 🙂

It would most likely be with spices and marinades. I tend to use smoked paprika if I’m looking for the smoky flavor (not vegan/vegetarian but bacon is almost all unhealthy fat) so I’ve never actually shopped for it though.

Liquid smoke one of those things that ends up in random enough places that I always just ask an employee. In one of the stores near my house it’s in the spices section, in another it’s in the condiment area — and in the last it’s in with the sugar for some unknown reason.

Hi Katie,
Great idea! I’m not sure if you are aware but liquid smoke is actually under investigation as to whether it is a safe flavoring as it seems to be carcinogenic. If people want that smokiness without that ingredient they might want to leave it out and replace the salt your recipe calls for with smoked salt instead…Otherwise very cool!

Thanks for the heads up! I tried to google it, but the only articles I could find that said it was a danger were from at least 3 years ago… do you have a link to something more current so I can check it out?

I’ve had bacon cupcakes before and they are pretty out of this world. I’m not sure how artificial bacon bits could be called healthy though. All the brands I’ve seen have msg and artificial food dyes in them, among other questionable ingredients.

Do you have a recipe for homemade cashew mayo? I have more cashews than I know what to do with, at present. *grin* Also, I’d love to try this with the coconut “bacon” that’s so popular around these parts lately.

I don’t actually have a recipe of my own. But if you google “cashew mayo” you can find some recipes for it… or look in a good all-purpose vegan cookbook. Most of the recipes I’ve seen are pretty similar to each other, so you shouldn’t have a problem no matter which you choose. 🙂

Personally, I think these are a great alternative to pig based bacon cupcakes, processed bacon bits and all. Not every dessert needs to be the healthiest food of your day, that’s why it’s a treat! I am pretty excited to make these!